In my theater program I had the opportunity to perform in a Kyogen scene. It was a way to explore Japan's past and their traditional theater. I noticed how different the theater was, with its stylized movements and humor. Kyogen theater began during Japan's Muromachi Period (1380-1466), when it was popular among common people. Kyogen means "crazed words". Along with Noh, it is the earliest professional theater form. There are around 300 Kyogen plays still in existence, but nobody knows who authored them. This may be due to their early improvisational style and that they were only later written down. Later, Kyogen gained acceptance by the ruling classes and was paired together with Noh theater, though the two styles were very different. Kyogen is a comic theater, with its primary importance being to make people laugh. It focuses on the daily troubles, and of ordinary people: masters and servants, farmers, monks, thieves, wives, etc. A typical Kyogen theater piece might include a master, and his two servants, Taro Kaja and Jiro Kaja, who are loyal but still somehow get into trouble. Kyogen costumes are fairly simple, and made of hemp. Jokes are told and songs are sung. Comedy techniques are used, such as slapstick's, slow-motion, repetition, instant replay, mime, and play on words. Facial expressions are intense at climactic moments. In comparison, Noh theater is more symbolic, historical, serious and tragic. The costumes are elaborate, and their theater is accompanied by music. Noh actors hold no facial expressions and often wear masks. Although Noh and Kyogen are stylistically different, they are blended by performing a serious Noh performance with interludes of a comical Kyogen scene. When my fellow actors and I performed Kyogen scenes, I enjoyed the Japanese influence: wearing kimonos, drinking "sake", eating busu, walking barefoot or in black slippers and wearing rice paddy hats. I found the humor to be more subtle than in the theater. I had seen or acted in the past. Our Ensemble approached Kyogen scenes by considering their traditional past as well as adapting them to the present, using our imaginations. Currently, Kyogen is enjoying a new popularity among young people in Japan. I hope that the Kyogen style of theater is kept alive far into the future. ~ --Melati Citrawireja
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